Wake Me Up When September Ends...
This week's post is by far one of my all time favorites! Not only did I have a blast shooting this look, but there is an even better story behind all of the photos you will see below. Please pardon the somewhat corny title of this post! As you keep reading, you'll see why the month of September feels like a bit of a dream that I don't want to wake up from anytime soon!
For those of you that did not see, or hear, I was featured in ELLE magazine's September issue!! Editors from the magazine went to different cities across the country in search of #StyleAcrossAmerica. One of their stops was in my lovely city of Boston! You can see a close-up of my feature below, or check out ELLE's full story HERE!! Keep scrolling to learn about my story behind the feature...
So it is actually a long, somewhat comical story of how I came to be featured in ELLE. It all started when my friend Emma reached out to tell me that ELLE was going across the country looking to showcase the style of different cities in the U.S.. With their cross-country tour, they were offering up the chance to be featured in the coveted September Issue! After learning of the opportunity, I set out to try and gain the attention of the editors. This mainly consisted of tagging them in every single one of my photos and adding #ELLEonWheelsBoston (the official hashtag for the search) to them as well.
I do not know if it was my persistency of playing the "Instagram game", or my content that garnered their attention, but something stuck! The next thing I knew I was getting an email from one of the editors saying I had been chosen to partake in a photoshoot. We were to meet in Cambridge, dressed to show off our personal style, keeping in mind that this was to be in the September issue (read: showcase your FALL style). Well, this brings up one of the first "bumps" in the story....
When I received the call to participate, I was in the process of selling my house and moving. I was beyond excited to get home to start planning out what look I was going to style. The only problem was that I had moved all of my fall and winter clothes into my new apartment, of which I did not yet have my own set of keys for. So there I was, needing to plan a fall outfit to showcase my personal style, with a closet lacking almost all of my fall wardrobe staples. Needless to say, the panic began to set in.
Thus began trying on multiple outfits, and taking pictures of every single one, while simultaneously talking on the phone with my mom and sister asking their advice. After a long night, I was packed up and ready to go the next day! Now came the struggle of getting from my office in Back Bay over to Cambridge, and finding a place to change along the way. A shoutout is owed to the girls working at the Free People by Harvard Square, who let me change from my work clothes into my look for the shoot in their dressing room. I am sure I looked like any store worker's worst nightmare, walking in with multiple bags and heading straight to the back!
Now that I was dressed, in the outfit you see featured in this post, all I needed to do was meet up with everyone and do my thing. This of course became a much more daunting task when I saw some of the other girls, who were essentially my competition. If you ever want to question your personal style judgement, show up to a photoshoot for the ELLE September issue, where you are going against seasoned fashion bloggers in an attempt to be noticed. I should point out that this shoot took place back in May, so I had only been working on my blog for about three months at that point. One look at the outfits the other girls were wearing, and seeing how fierce and put together they all were, I was beyond intimidated.
Up next, came some of the fun stuff! We each had a quick glam session to get ready for the photoshoot. Keep in mind that this was done in the middle of Harvard Square, so we were eliciting more than a few stares from onlookers. After making sure we were photo ready, we each met with the editor individually for a mini interview. This was great because I got the chance to chat about my style and vision for my blog, while also highlighting the city of Boston, which I am so fond of! The last part of the day was what we were all there for; the photoshoot. When my turn came, i was directed into the street to strike a pose. So, there I was, standing in the middle of rush hour traffic, with cars and bikes whizzing past me, all while trying to look natural and effortless. Before I knew it, the afternoon was over and I was back in my car heading home. Running through the days events in my head repeatedly, I hoped that I had done enough to make the cut. All that was left to do at that point was wait...
Fast forward a few months, to a few weeks ago. One of the other girls I had met at the shoot sent me a message telling me we had made the September issue! To say I was ecstatic is an understatement. It was surreal to see myself on the pages of a glossy, fashion magazine and realize that it was reality, not a dream. And to think this all happened because of Instagram (and Emma!- I still owe you drink for the heads up!). After telling all of my friends and family the good news, good luck to anyone who wants to see a copy for themselves. I am pretty sure my mom and grandma bought all of them!
Now that I have had the time to let it all sink in, I specifically wanted to take the time to thank everyone who supports my blog and me! Thank you to my trusty photographer and friend, Emily, who takes almost all of the amazing photos I post each week. Thank you to my family and friends, who are always the first ones to like/comment/share the content that I work so hard to publish. A HUGE thank you to ELLE for actually choosing me to be in their September issue, and further validating why I started this venture in the first place. And lastly, thank you to everyone that I don't know who is following along with my ever evolving story!
Now that the sentiments are out of the way, I am sure you are all tired of reading and are ready to see more of my look from the shoot. I recreated the outfit I wore for the magazine shoot for all of you. See the details and shop pieces from my outfit below!!
Want to recreate this look? Shop some of the same, and similar, pieces below!
Click on the photos to be shop each piece directly :)
